1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever-type electrical connector in which matable connector parts containing electrical elements to be connected are drawn together towards their connected position by a rotatable lever. Such a connector has application for example in the connection of bundles of wires in a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a lever-type connector for use in a junction box is disclosed in JP-A-11-26070. The construction of this lever-type connector is shown in present FIGS. 9 and 10. A lever 2 is supported by a female connector 1 via a shaft 4. The lever 2 has a pair of lever walls 2A which are connected by an actuator portion 3 which straddles the female connector 1. A male connector 5 mounted directly on a junction box has a hood part 6 in which the lever 2 and the female connector 1 fit.
The lever 2 when mounted on the female connector 1, has projections 7 at its front end at the lower side. The female connector 1 is then inserted into the hood part 6. As shown in FIG. 10A, the projections 7 of the lever 2 engage in a cutout 8 formed on a wall of the hood part 6. The actuator portion 3 is pressed by the user as shown by the arrow of FIG. 10A to pivot the lever 2 on the edge of the cutout 8. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10B, only a relatively small force is needed to fit the female connector 1 deeply into the hood part 6, the shaft 4 supporting the lever 2 and acting as the point of application of downwards force on the female connector 1.
However, in this lever-type connector, before the lever 2 is pressed downwardly, there is a large gap between the hood part 6 and the actuator portion 3, as shown in FIG. 10A. Therefore, there is nothing to support the two sides (the sides along the lever walls 2A) of the actuator portion 3, and because the lever 2 is only loosely supported by the shaft 4, when the lever 2 is pressed into the hood part 6 the lever 2 is liable to be deformed. Thus, pivoting movement of the lever 2 may not occur smoothly.